The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) announced today a special screening of Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare Trilogy as a feature of the 2015 festival. This event will show Bhardwaj’s MAQBOOL, OMKARA, and HAIDER.

Bhardwaj is one of India’s formost film directors whose talents include screen-writing, music composition, and playback singing. His career in the Indian film industry started out as a music composer, working on award-winning films such as Maachis (1996), Satya (1998) and Chachi 420 (1998) among others. His directoral debut was recognized with the critically acclaimed Makdee (2002). His other directoral titles include Kaminey (2009), 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013) and many more. His films have received wide critical acclaim across a variety of film festivals as well.

Bhardwaj is especially known for his adaption of Shakespeare’s classic plays. His Shakespeare Trilogy – Maqbool (2003), based on Macbeth, Omkara (2006), based on Othello and his latest film, Haider (2014), based on Hamlet – have received national and international acclaim as well as a huge cult following.

MAQBOOL (2003, 132 minutes, Hindi/Urdu) Macbeth meets the Godfather in present-day Mumbai. The Scottish tragedy is set in contemporary underworld of India’s commercial capital; two corrupt, fortune telling policemen take the roles of the weird sisters, and “Duncan” is Abbaji, the head of a crime family. Abbajis mistress and Maqbool plot to carry out his death; the sea plays the role of Burnham wood.

OMKARA (2006, 155 minutes, Hindi) Shakespeare’s masterpiece “Othello” set in modern day India. A political minded enforcer’s misguided trust in his lieutenant leads him to suspect his wife of infidelity.

HAIDER (2014, 162 minutes, Hindi) A young man returns to Kashmir after his father’s disappearance to confront his uncle – the man who had a role in his father’s fate and who is now his mother’s husband.

“Prolific writer, composer, director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare Trilogy is an amazing Special Event at NYIFF 2015. We are really excited that Vishal has agreed to screen and discuss all three films in their Shakesperean context at our festival” said IAAC Artistic Director Aroon Shivdasani.

Visha Bhardwaj stated “A Filmmaker changes and grows with every film. I am thrilled to see my Shakespeare trilogy at NYIFF and trace both my personal and professional journey’s over the last decade in my films and music.”

The special screenings of Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare Trilogy and post-screening discussions will take place during the main festival at the Village East Cinemas, 2nd Avenue and 12th Street, May 5-9, 2015.